QRG Capital Management Inc. Increases Stake in Murphy USA Inc. $MUSA

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE:MUSA) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 758 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Murphy USA were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Murphy USA by 2,594.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 142,038 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $66,731,000 after purchasing an additional 136,766 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Murphy USA in the first quarter worth about $241,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter worth about $40,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Murphy USA during the first quarter worth about $3,683,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Murphy USA by 21.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $568,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. 80.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Murphy USA Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of NYSE:MUSA opened at $377.78 on Friday. Murphy USA Inc. has a 12-month low of $345.23 and a 12-month high of $561.08. The company has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day moving average of $383.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $424.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.20.

Murphy USA (NYSE:MUSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The specialty retailer reported $7.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.82 by $0.54. Murphy USA had a return on equity of 64.63% and a net margin of 2.52%.The company had revenue of $5.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.92 earnings per share. Murphy USA’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Murphy USA Inc. will post 26.45 EPS for the current year.

Murphy USA Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $0.53 per share. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 25th. This is a positive change from Murphy USA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Murphy USA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MUSA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Murphy USA in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Zacks Research lowered Murphy USA from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Murphy USA from $520.00 to $440.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Murphy USA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $350.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Murphy USA has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $483.17.

Insider Activity at Murphy USA

In other news, COO Malynda K. West sold 1,859 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $386.22, for a total transaction of $717,982.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 117,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,337,979.58. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert Madison Murphy bought 5,000 shares of Murphy USA stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $367.01 per share, with a total value of $1,835,050.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 389,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $142,830,015.72. This trade represents a 1.30% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 9.04% of the company’s stock.

About Murphy USA

Murphy USA Inc engages in marketing of retail motor fuel products and convenience merchandise. The company operates retail stores under the Murphy USA, Murphy Express, and QuickChek brands, as well as operates non-fuel convenience stores. It operates retail gasoline stores principally in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest United States.